


Static And Sparks

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [9]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alien Technology, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 12:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17365658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: He doesn’t realize how often he touches her. It’s never anything incriminating, he thinks. Just little things. Like the way his arm grazes hers as they walk down a corridor, or when he catches her trying to pull another all-nighter in her lab, so he gives her shoulder a light squeeze right before he tells her to get some sleep.Innocuous, he reminds himself. Completely and utterly innocuous.





	Static And Sparks

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 'Static Electricity Day'. Kudos must go to CoraClavia for today’s entry, as one of her comments sparked (no pun intended) the inspiration for this fic. The comment was: “Jack is 100% the kind of person who "accidentally" does things like brush her [Sam’s] hand or touch her back while holding a door open at work”.

He doesn’t realize how often he touches her. It’s never anything incriminating, he thinks. Just little things. Like the way his arm grazes hers as they walk down a corridor, or when he catches her trying to pull another all-nighter in her lab, so he gives her shoulder a light squeeze right before he tells her to get some sleep.   
  
_Innocuous_ , he reminds himself. Completely and utterly innocuous.   
  
Except for when it’s not.   
  
And it’s only when the touching becomes a _literal_ problem that he thinks he might be in trouble.   
  
But then the annoying little voice in his head makes itself known, and when he really thinks about it, Jack O’Neill always knew that touching Carter would get him into trouble one day.  
  
Like today. Damn Carter and her scientific curiosity.  
  
He quickly takes the last thought back. Damn _Jacob_ Carter...  
  
The day had started out quietly, until the Tok’ra appeared. Or, more specifically, Jacob. According to him, one of their undercover operatives recently stumbled across what was thought to be a long-forgotten doohickey of some kind. No-one was quite sure _what_ the device actually did, but as it was rumored to be another piece of technology left behind by the Ancients, SG-1 had volunteered to take a look.   
  
That was the team’s first mistake, Jack reckons.   
  
After gating to the – thankfully – uninhabited planet, SG-1, along with Jacob, had to hike twelve klicks through the desert before they found the temple in question. It had long been abandoned, and the only thing that appeared to be of any value was a large purple artefact situated in the inner sanctum of the structure. Upon closer inspection, Jack thought the artefact looked suspiciously like a plasma globe. It emitted a low buzzing noise, which was periodically interrupted by a soft crackle or hiss when two or three of the colored beams inside the orb converged.   
  
It didn’t take long for Jack to catch the look in Carter’s eye and he’d quickly warned her not to touch anything. To be fair, she had begrudgingly followed his order, but it soon turned out to be a matter of no importance when, without warning, one of the beams seemed to pierce the surface and sparked Sam’s right hand. But it wasn’t just her. Oh no, the machine also zapped  _him_ because he’d also been too curious and was at the other side of the device, and just as close.  
  
And that was their second mistake.   
  
The charge was so strong it had thrown both officers into the air and meters clear of the pedestal, with Daniel, Teal’c and Jacob quickly running to their aid to see if they were alright.   
  
Aside from feeling considerably more awake than he had moments earlier, Jack’s entire body tingled. Sam looked shaken, but insisted that she was fine, however Jacob overruled them all and called time on the mission. They’d made the gruelling trip back to the gate with Jacob promising Sam that they would come back – provided there were no lasting injuries from whatever the hell had happened back in the temple.   
  
Janet hadn’t been able to find anything wrong with either of them, and aside from a mild tingling sensation, they were in no pain or discomfort, so she’d had no choice but to discharge them from the infirmary.  
  
And that’s when the problem started. When Jack inadvertently reached out to help Sam off her bed and a sharp electric jolt travelled through the both of them as their hands touched.  
  
Another round of tests ensued, which ended with more questions than answers, so the doc had grounded the team until they got to the bottom of the issue.  
  
Now, here they are, stuck on base and trying to figure out how to reverse the effects from the orb. And all because the electric shocks only occur when he and Sam make contact. It doesn’t happen with _anybody_ else. _Of course it wouldn’t_.  
  
With every shock they experience, it hurts for a few seconds, or it takes one of them by surprise, and the resulting ‘ouch’ or ‘hey’ they yell, helps alert everyone within hearing distance that they’ve touched again. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a pressing issue when alien technology is to blame – but Jack’s mind circles back to his original thought.   
  
It's him. And Carter. And he doesn’t realize how often he touches her.   
  
He runs his free hand over his face and groans as he enters Sam’s lab.  
  
“Carter.”   
  
She throws him an awkward smile before she addresses him. “How’s the translation going?”  
  
“Ah, Dad and Daniel are handling it. I think.” He frowns slightly. “At least that’s what they told me.”  
  
“Did they kick you out, sir?”  
  
“Yeah,” he sighs.   
  
“Dare I ask why?”  
  
A shrug is her answer, so she rolls her eyes good-naturedly.  
  
“You have any luck figuring this thing out?”   
  
Sam shakes her head, then hesitates and nods instead. “Kind of, sir.”  
  
“Go on,” he says with a wave of his hand as he sets a fresh cup of coffee on the lab bench. Sam’s eyes drift to the cup, and Jack rolls his eyes. “It’s for you,” he confirms.  
  
With a smile, Sam reaches for the coffee but the colonel gets there first and hands it to her. His fingers cover hers, like they’ve probably done so many times before, but the resulting shock sends them both jumping backwards and the hot liquid pooling onto the floor.  
  
“Crap. Sorry, Carter.”  
  
“It’s fine, sir,” she says, and half-turns towards the computer, ignoring the spilled coffee for now, as if she needs a distraction. “From what I can tell, it’s like static electricity.”  
  
“Then why did it not stop the first time there was a spark between us?”  
  
He realizes too late how his question sounds, and when Sam’s eyes widen, he wonders how he can take it back. But he can’t, and it’s Carter, and she _knows_ , so he shoves a hand in the pocket of his BDUs, shrugs, and hopes she accepts his attempt at an apology.   
  
“I don’t know,” she continues quietly, a light blush on her face as she studiously avoids his gaze. “But static electricity is formed when two insulators are rubbed together. This generates a static field of imbalanced positive and negatively charged ions –”   
  
She pauses, risks a quick glance in his direction, and he nods to let her know that he’s still with her.   
  
“OK, so when those charged insulators come into contact with a conductor – like metal – the charge is released.”   
  
“We aren’t made of metal, Carter. Unless Harlan’s been messing around again.”  
  
His comment elicits a small smile from Sam, who adds, “But it doesn’t explain why this – _charge_ – is still here. I have a few more calculations to run, but another larger shock should counteract whatever _this_ is.” She glances at her laptop and frowns. “I think I can figure out the level we’d need, but until Daniel figures out _why_ this is happening, I’d rather not do anything.”  
  
Jack nods in understanding. It’s one thing to get involved with alien technology; but it’s a completely different story to start messing about with it when you don’t have all the facts. He goes to speak, only to discover he’s unwittingly made his way around to stand beside Carter, and he’s close enough to hear the catch in her breathing as she looks up at him.  
  
“Do you think it might just wear off?”  
  
“It’s possible,” she muses, “but I really don’t know.”   
  
He sees Sam flex her hand. “You alright?”  
  
“It stings a little,” she admits, “but it’s okay.”  
  
It’s his fault after all, because he can’t keep his hands to himself, and he does feel bad that he’s caused her pain, but he doesn’t think vocalizing that point would help the situation. Instead he reaches out, his hand hovering just above her shoulder when he realizes what he is doing.  
  
“Shit.”  
  
Sam freezes when she sees how close he is and it’s only when his hand falls to his side, that she moves her chair and swivels it around so she can lean on the backrest.   
  
It’s a barrier she erects so that he can’t touch her. _Because he really can’t touch her_.  
  
The touches hurt more every time, and he isn't convinced it's just down to the electricity coursing through their veins anymore.

He sees the apology in her eyes and he gets it – he really does – but the realization over their situation still hurts.  
  
“You should go,” she murmurs, moments later. “See how Dad is getting on.”

He takes a breath and raps his knuckles on the desk once, twice, three times before he presses his hand, palm down, onto the surface. His fingers splay as he slides his hand forward and he waits. Moments later, when Sam’s own fingers appear, the tips sliding in between his but not touching, he meets her gaze. She’s studying him, seeking answers to the questions she has, wanting to tell him the things she can't. He just hopes he's doing the same. 


End file.
